Project of Fate
by D. Wolfric
Summary: Ryou has to do a project with the most unapproachable guy at school, but it doesn't seem too bad. It's not like anything terrible will happen, right? Sometimes darkness hides in the most unexpected places. -This story is going to be rewritten!-
1. History Project

A/N: One thing I have to explain before you continue reading, first this is a Semi-AU fic where the Hikari's and Yami's are separate people. Second I had to give both Bakura and Yami last names. Oh and Ryou _will_ refer to Yami Bakura as Kage until he knows him a bit better and starts thinking of him as Bakura…at least in his POV.

Warnings: Shounen Ai/Yaoi, Torture, Character Death, and some OOCness.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, or any of the characters except for Aruel/Arual Sregor, who does in fact belong to me.

**A Project of Fate**

Chapter 1: History Project.

-Ryou's POV-

Holding my hair in a ponytail I bent down to take a drink from the water fountain. I just got finished running laps in Phys. Ed so I was awfully tired, and not just from running either. The girls in the class seem to find it amusing to bother me while I'm running. 'Oh Ryou run with me!' yelled one of the girls before I put on some extra speed so I wouldn't have to run with someone so annoying. Letting my hair fall back over my shoulders, I turned to walk back to the locker room hoping to get away before the girls found me.

Today was exactly like any other day I had Phys. Ed, the other kids were rude (other then the girls that is), but wanted me on their team because I was pretty good at soccer, at least better then anyone else who was willing to even play. The teacher praised me for doing a good job along with a few of the nicer students who don't think of me as a total freak. That really didn't mean much to me though, I always tried my best and therefore, someone praised me for it. I guess I'm a little spoiled when it comes to getting attention that I never wanted in the first place.

I walked into the locker room successfully avoiding any girls on my way, some of the boys glared my way. I sighed softly as I walked to my locker and started to open my combination lock, I really should have waited to come in. I glanced around tiredly only to find a few guys still glaring at me. It's not my fault that the girls follow me around; it's not like any of them actually attracts me. I opened the locker and began to change into my school uniform. When I finished I quickly grabbed my bag and left the locker room. "Good job out there, Bakura" I heard someone say as they passed me, though I made no indication I heard them.

The rest of the day was pretty much a bore since all I really had to do was take notes and do a little bit of work. Once again I was the first one done with everything; I could tell that everyone was a bit annoyed with me when I went up to turn my work in, though I got a 'good job Mr. Bakura' from the teacher, it meant nothing to me. Greatfully the bell rang for lunch so I was able to leave.

I always ate alone of the roof at lunch, I was always lost in my own thoughts. This time though I had to worry about who my partner will be for the project we have to do in History. I sighed softly as I pictured everyone in the class.

There was Mazaki, Anzu, but she annoyed me to no end. Mouto, Yugi would be nice to be partnered with, but that was very unlikely. Being partnered with Jounouchi, Katsuya would result in me doing all of the work. I shook my head slightly at the thought of being partnered with Kaiba, Seto, I would be nervous the whole time and _he_ would end up doing the whole thing. Kage, Bakura scares the crap out of me; I don't want to even think about being paired with him, I don't think anyone can blame me though. Nondai, Yami is pretty new still so I really don't know his work habits. Sregor, Aruel is pretty nice, but the way she acts is a little odd, maybe that's because she's not from Japan in the first place.

The bell rang startling me out of my thoughts. I looked at my unfinished lunch; I guess I got too lost in my thoughts. I gathered my things and started walking to my next class, Math. I didn't have to worry about History for another hour or so, but the project thing still bothered me.

Math passed a lot faster then I would have liked. I sighed once again and gathered my things then went to History. I was one of the first to enter the class, except for Kaiba who was always there before anyone else. I sat down at my seat and waited for the rest of the class filed in. I tried my best to keep clam, but the nervousness clearly showed though. The class room was full when the teacher arrived.

-Normal POV-

The teacher, Ms. Shimaia, over looked the class until it was quiet enough for her to speak "Good afternoon, Class" she said and received an echo of 'good afternoon Ms. Shimaia' a smile formed on her full red lips. "Today I will be assigning partners for the project that will take up the next two weeks." she got a few groans from the class, but continued despite that "once you are assigned a partner you two must agree on a county then write a report that is no less then 5 pages long," this also received groans "_and_ make a small model of a monument or a famous landmark." Ms. Shimaia finished.

She picked up a paper and began to read off the partners slowly "Mr. Jounouchi and Mr. Kaiba."

"You gotta be kiddn' me!" Jounouchi yelled cutting the teacher off "I can't be paired with Kaiba!" he stood up abruptly and looked as if he were going to attack the teacher.

Ms. Shimaia didn't seem intimidated in the least "Mr. Jounouchi, I think that it would be good for your grade. Besides, I already had the list made. Have a seat." She left no room for argument as he lifted the paper once again.

Jounouchi sat back down muttering under his breath, sending a glare Ryou's way after hearing him giggle.

The teacher continued to read on "Mr. Mouto and Mr. Nondai" she paused a moment, but got no real reaction to that. She continued on with list slowly not getting anymore trouble from any of her students.

Ryou waited for his name to be called it was looking slimmer and slimmer that he was going to be paired with anyone who is actually nice to him. "Mr. Bakura" he turned his attention to the teacher when he heard her call his name "and Mr. Kage." Ryou took on a look of shock as he turned his head to look at the person who almost mirrored his image.

"You may now get with your partners to discuss the project." Ms. Shimaia said softly.

Everyone got up noisily and sat next to the person they were paired with, some more noisily then others.

Ryou sunk slowly in his seat as Kage walked up to him and sat down, not really appearing to care.

-Bakura's POV-

I watched Ryou sink into his seat, I know it's rude to call someone you don't really know by their first name, but it would be really weird to address him by 'Bakura' considering it's my first name. I don't really care anyway. By looking at the other I knew that this wasn't going to be any different then the other projects I've done.

"W-what are we going to d-do?" I looked to Ryou for a moment, was he really that scared of me? Good.

"I think," I started making sure my voice was as cold as ice "we should do Egypt" Ryou shivered slightly as I watched him with a cold gaze, he'll be no different then anyone else I've worked with, I'm sure. He'll give me my half of the work then not see me other then at school to make sure I did it right. All these people are the same.

"E-Egypt? Great!" Ryou stuttered, but he seemed to look a little braver when he sat up and took out a piece of paper. He also seemed very happy about that fact I chose Egypt. Here it comes 'here's your half of the project, I'll see you Friday to see if you did it right' I waited, but that never came.

I curiously looked at the piece of paper and was surprised to see him writing an address, _his_ address. Before he could look at me, I adverted my eyes then I hid my curiosity with my normal mask the indifference, I glanced at him for a moment and he smiled at me…_smiled_ at me.

Ryou spoke again, but this time he didn't stutter, though he _did_ sound a bit nervous still "This is my home address," he said as he pushed the paper in front of me "Do you think you could come over after school so we can start?" he asked softly.

"You want me to come over?" I asked coldly. He really wants me to come over? I made sure to not show anything other then the cold expression I used as my mask. Was this guy for real? Did he not know what I'm known for? What I'm capable of?

"I...was hoping we could work on this project together, that way we can tell each other if anything is wrong with what we're doing." His voice sounded more confident then it was before. Maybe he wasn't too scared of me after all.

I wasn't sure of what to say as an answer "Alright" I said in the same cold tone of voice I held with everyone. He just smiled again and sat silently seeming to wait for me to continue with my answer. "At what time do you want me to come over?" I asked as I stared at him.

Ryou grinned "As soon as you can I guess…My father is out on a business trip so he won't be home for a while." Why was he telling me this? Maybe he was saying that no one will bother us while we're doing the project. I continued to stare at him; my expression didn't change until he spoke again "I have all of the materials at my house all ready…so we can do it there." I rose an eyebrow slightly, was he saying he didn't want to come over to my house? I mentally shook my head; of course he wouldn't want to come over.

"That's fine; I'll just come over after I drop my stuff off at my house." It was then that the sudden urge to smile overcame me. I fought it of course. I wasn't going to smile after only talking to Ryou for a few minutes. It was then I noticed something.

I never really just looked at Ryou; he looks a lot like I do. It's a little strange. The only difference is that he appears nice and easier to talk to. Just the way his emerald green eyes sparkled with innocence and my own brown eyes seem tainted showed a difference between us. It also seemed that our hair was the exact same, only he had better luck taming it then I did. I guess that I look like a more tainted Ryou. I sighed softly as I looked at his home address.

"You live just down the street from me" I mumbled aloud, I really didn't know I did until Ryou looked at me with those curious emerald eyes.

"I do?" he asked then smiled again "Maybe we can walk home together then" he said then looked thoughtful for a moment "Oh…wait…I have to go to the store before I go home…I'm out of food." Ryou shook his head then laid his head on his desk "Nevermind…sorry"

I folded the piece of paper and put it carefully in my pocket. "It's alright" I said calmly. I knew that it was hard to live alone…wait…alone? "Wait…where's your mother?" I asked quietly so no one else in the class could hear.

Ryou looked up at me sadly, but didn't lift his head from the desk "She died when I was younger…" I frowned slightly, he looked so sad. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad hanging around him.

"Would you like for me to come with you?" I asked. What the hell am I doing? Am I out of my mind or something?

"That's alright. It should only take a little while anyway…" Ryou said softly declining my offer kindly. He really was a strange one.

"I'll just come over after I eat something then" I said as I began to pack up my things. The bell was going to ring in a few minutes. Ryou saw what I was doing and he too began to pack his things.

When I finished I looked at Ryou and he smiled at me again "alright" he replied softly again. His voice was soothing to listen to.

It was then I noticed that I was being nice to Ryou. That was strange as it was, but what was worse is that I didn't want to be mean to this lonely angel.

-Normal POV-

The bell rang signaling the end of classes for the day. Both Ryou and Bakura left the class room together. It wasn't too odd to see two people from the same class walked out of the building together, but it _was_ odd to see Bakura walking with _anyone_. The two white haired boys stopped in front of the exit.

"I'll see you later then" Ryou then waved his good-bye and went off to the store, leaving Bakura alone with his thoughts.

_This Ryou Bakura is a very interesting fellow _Bakura thought as he walked home slowly _it's also very interesting that his last name is the same as my first._ He thought this very odd indeed, but that didn't distract him very long. _Why is it that I don't want to be unkind to this guy? Maybe it's because he looks like me? No…that's not it…Why is it? Augh! _He held his head in his hands and then shook his head wildly, this was driving him crazy!

Before Bakura knew it he was standing on his door step, he paused for a moment to look up at the plain white door. He sighed softly before he took his keys out and unlocked the door. He entered the empty house and closed the door behind him. He slowly walked into the living room and put his backpack down. "I think I'll just make a sandwich then leave…" he said to no one at all.

His parents were never home. His mother was always out drinking and never comes home and his father was on a 'business trip' and won't be back for a while. Bakura knew what was really going on; he knew his parents were having affaires with other people. They think their doing such a good job hiding it from him, but he found out a long time ago.

Bakura sighed softly as he made his sandwich _Maybe I'm interested in Ryou? _He thought as he took a bite of his finished sandwich and walked into the other room _Damn it! I wish I knew what it was! _He plopped down onto the couch and continued to think _Hmmm...I really don't know that much about him...Maybe when I learn more...I'll know why I'm being so damn nice to him. _Bakura knew that it wasn't normal for him to be nice to someone else, but this time he just couldn't help it.

Bakura finished his sandwich as he stood and walked down the hall to his room. He began to dig for something. He smirked slightly when he found what he was looking for; he left his room and put the idem in his backpack then slung it over his shoulder. "Now to go to Ryou's..." He said aloud to no one as he walked out the door locking it behind him, then began walking to his partners house.

---

It didn't take long at all for Ryou to finish his shopping. He even bought some snacks for himself and Bakura, just in case they get hungry while their doing the project. He smiled to himself while he walked home with the grocery bags in his arms. _I thought Kage was mean to everyone; he was just fine around me. _He smiled softly at the idea of someone actually not being annoyed with him because he's smart.

The white haired boy shivered slightly, Bakura still creeps him out…a lot, but Ryou figured that if he could ignore the cold look in Bakura's eyes, his rude mannerisms, and the fact that he's a lot stronger then himself. Ryou would be just fine with Bakura around.

Well at least that's what Ryou thought. He stopped in front of his house when he saw Bakura standing there waiting. He walked to the front door and stood next to Bakura and stared at him for a moment.

"Uh….Hi" Ryou said with a small smile on his lips.

"Do…you need any help?" Bakura asked as he offered to take some of the bags away from Ryou.

"Sure!" Ryou gave up some of the bags to Bakura with a grin on his face.

Bakura waited for the other to unlock the door and usher him in, when they entered he looked around the house a look of awe on his face.

It looked like an old English home with beautiful mahogany furniture and china in the cabinets. The main hall leading to the living room was hard wood, but in the middle of the floor was a carpet with the design of an Egyptian pyramid. Ryou led Bakura up the stairs and into his room, this made the taller of the two gasp. Even though it looked like a pretty normal room, there were pictures of Egypt and his father. This alone surprised Bakura. So _that _was why Ryou was so happy about him wanting to do Egypt.

Bakura sat down on Ryou's queen size bed; he couldn't help but wonder why Ryou's bed was so big.

"So..." Ryou's voice cut though his thoughts "Let's start that project then..." he walked over to his shelve and took out several books. He just tossed them onto the bed, there were about ten books on the bed when he finished.

It was then Bakura decided to take the idem out of his backpack and show it to him. It was a very old book about the Egyptian gods; half of it was still in Hieroglyphs. His eyes lit up at the sight of it "Wow...I've never seen that book before..." he paused to pick it up gently "And it looks so old too."

"It is...I'm not sure how long my family's had it" He tapped the cover slightly with his index finger "This thing has brought me good luck, at least...That's what I would like to think." Bakura smirked slightly, still not willing to smile in front of someone he met only a few hours ago.

After talking for a little longer they started the project, Ryou searched though six books and Bakura searched though five. They lost track of time and it grew dark quickly. Bakura looked out the window and cursed under his breath.

"I have to get home now..." he said as he stood and put on his backpack "Do you want me to come over early tomorrow?" Bakura asked.

Ryou stood as well and looked up at the other "That would be great..." he paused for a moment "Uh...Kage?" he looked down for a moment then back up at Bakura.

"Bakura" he corrected then gestured for Ryou to continue.

"Bakura then..." Ryou smiled "Would you uh...be my friend?" he asked.

"You want me to be your friend?" Bakura asked trying his hardest not to sound surprised at the question. Ryou nodded slowly and looked slightly surprised at Bakura's reaction. This time Bakura actually smiled "Sure...I'll be your friend" he said.

Ryou grinned and then pulled the taller boy into a hug. Bakura stiffened slightly, but returned the hug after a minute of standing there. They stood there for a while before Bakura pulled away slowly "I really need to get home" he said before he turned and left the room. Ryou followed him to the front door and stood there to see the other off "I'll see you tomorrow then Ryou!" Bakura called before he left the house and began to walk home.

Ryou watched until he couldn't see Bakura anymore, _he must live around the corner...but that's still down the street_ he thought as he closed the front door and locked it.

He went up stairs and started to clean up. Ryou put the last book away before he looked back at his bed; he smiled softly as he looked at the small stack of papers that had Bakura's writing on it. He picked them up and went to move them to his desk, but stopped when he saw a book still laying on his bed. "Oh...Ka-Bakura left his book here" he lifted that as well and placed it on his desk next to his papers.

_It's strange...Bakura seemed to be so mean to everyone else, that's why I stayed away from him before. But...now it seems that he's nice and not mean after all. _A small smile appeared on his lips as he thought about it _maybe he's not so creepy after all._

With those thoughts on his mind Ryou went to sleep.

--End of Chapter 1—

A/N: The sooner you people review and tell me what you think, the sooner I'll get the next chapter up.


	2. Paint Fight, Dream, and Playing Dress up

A/N: Thank you so much to those who reviewed! You don't know how much I appreciate it. Anyway this chapter took a bit longer then I wanted it too. Even my Yami was starting to yell at me to get it finished. There will be a Lemon scene in this chapter. Enjoy.

Warnings: Shounen Ai/Yaoi, Torture, Character Death, and some OOCness.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, or any of the characters except for Aruel/Arual Sregor, who do in fact belong to me.

**A Project of Fate**

Chapter 2: A Paint Fight, A Dream, and...Playing Dress up?

-Ryou's POV-

This past two weeks I've been spending all of my free time with Bakura, even if we weren't working on the project or in school. We would sit on my bed and talk for hours; a few times he even spent the night after he assured me that his parents wouldn't care if he were gone or not. I learned a lot about this other boy who seemed creepy at first. Don't get me wrong, he's still a bit creepy, but not to me.

After about the first week I was starting to think about Bakura more and more. Then three day's before we have to turn the project in I start thinking about him as more then just a friend. This scared me, more then anything in the world.

School had just ended, it was Wednesday and we had to turn the project in on Friday. Bakura decided that he would just come over to my house right after school this time instead of going home first like he normally did. We walked to my house in silence, it was driving me crazy. I guess he sensed that.

"Ryou, what's wrong?" he asked as he looked down at me.

"N-nothings wrong...why?" damn my stuttering, it only happens when I'm nervous or lying.

"Ryou..." Bakura only used that tone of voice when he was trying to get me to tell him something. I had to make up something fast.

"I...I'm just glad we're almost done with the project" I said quickly, it was true, but that wasn't the answer he was looking for. I could tell by the look on his face that he knew I wasn't telling him everything, but for some reason he didn't press the matter.

We walked the rest of the way in silence. I quickly unlocked the door and moved to the side so Bakura could enter the house. He went straight up to my room like he normally did. I sighed softly as I closed the front door to the house. Then I quietly followed.

I peeked into my room only to see that Bakura already started to paint our model of the sphinx. I entered the room quietly as to not disturb him; I smiled softly then walked up behind him and picked up a paint brush. "It would go a lot faster if I helped" I noticed that he jumped slightly at my voice, but quickly recovered.

"I can do this part" he said "You did most of the research...and you also made the model, I think it's only fair that I paint it"

I snickered softly "You did just as much as I did" I replied and started to help him paint anyway.

It was then he turned to look at me with those dark brown eyes. I could just get lost in those eyes, they held so much defiance, so much...pain...There was something else I noticed in his eyes, this made me look away. I could feel my cheeks burning as I again started to paint trying to hide my face with my hair.

If Bakura noticed he didn't say anything about it. We just continued to work maybe commenting here and there. At least until he decided to paint a streak of gold on my cheek.

"Hey! That wasn't very nice!" I was kind of annoyed that he would do that.

"I didn't mean to!" he said holding up his hands; I could tell he was trying hard not to laugh.

I look down at our project and smiled we were finished, therefore we didn't need the paint anymore. "Oh really?" I asked innocently as I brought my hand up and 'accidentally' put a red streak on his left cheek.

He blinked a couple of times as if trying to register what I just did, then he copied my movements and put another gold streak on my face. "HA!" he grinned.

This went on for almost an hour, until we were sitting on the floor both covered in red and gold paint laughing. When we stopped laughing we stared at each other for a moment then started laughing again.

-Bakura's POV-

I felt weird laughing so freely with Ryou; I used to always have to hide my emotions from anyone other than myself. And here I am. Laughing at the fact we are both covered in paint. After a while the laughter died down into giggles as I tried to get some of the paint off of my face, only succeeding to smear it on my face more.

"Here." Ryou said which made me jump just a little. I recovered quickly when I realized that he already took a hold of my hand and was leading me to the bathroom.

I noticed that his hair was hiding his face from me; I felt the sudden urge to run my fingers though those silky looking white stands to see how soft it felt. I ignored it though as I allowed him to sit me down on the toilet. I looked up at him slightly confused before he started to clean my face off with a wet rag.

I closed my eyes and turned my head when he told me to "Almost done" he smiled softly then his cheeks turned slightly red "Um...if you don't mind...could you clean my face off when I'm done?" he asked the redness in his cheeks getting deeper.

"Uh...Of course" I replied a little too quickly. I felt my cheeks heat up when he gestured for us to switch places, this made me wish there was still red paint on my face. When we did I rinsed the paint out of the rag and then began to gently wash the paint off of the other's face.

He was so beautiful, with his long white hair and emerald green eyes, he seemed angelic. That's what he was, my beautiful angel. Wait; did I just say 'my'? I've only been around him for two weeks and I already like him. Something must be wrong with me.

"Bakura?" Ryou's voice startled me out of my thoughts and I looked at him, I was almost finished cleaning off his face.

"Hm?" I answered.

"Do you think that since we still have two day's left we could do something extra for the project?" he asked in a soft voice.

"Maybe, what would you like to do?"

"Well my father has sent me a lot of things from Egypt since he's been there...and I was thinking maybe we could dress the part for the presentation." He explained.

I liked his idea, it sounded like it would be a lot of fun. Not to mention that our grade would most likely be better. "Sounds fun" I said as I finished and allowed him to stand up.

We still had paint all over our uniforms, but Ryou assured me that the paint would come out easily. We walked back into Ryou's room and I sat down on the floor.

"Would you like to borrow some clothes before you go home?" he asked, I could tell he was trying not to giggle as he stared at me.

I grinned and stood up quickly "That would be great!" I couldn't understand why the thought of borrowing his clothes made me so..._happy_. Maybe it was because I had never borrowed someone else's clothes before.

Ryou apparently found it funny that I was so excited about wearing his clothes and began to laugh. After a moment he walked over to his closet and pulled out two sets of clothes, before he walked over to the bed and set both sets down. I followed him with a small smile still on my lips.

I noticed that the outfits were opposites. I figured that the darker clothes were for me to wear. I pulled off my paint covered shirt and tossed it onto the floor; I then looked at my chest and arms to see if there was any paint, when I found none I picked up the black t-shirt and put it on. Even though it would have been a little baggy on Ryou, it was pretty form fitting on me, I didn't mind though considering that I normally wear tighter clothes anyway.

I glanced over at Ryou for a moment when I felt his eyes on me; he was already wearing the white t-shirt. I was pretty sure that both shirts were the same size because that shirt looked a little big on him. I smiled slightly when I saw him look away quickly, I knew he was checking me out; odd thing was...it didn't bother me a bit.

He had set out two pairs of blue jeans that ended up fitting me pretty well. When we finished changing he gave me a plastic bag to put my dirty clothes in. It was getting late and I had to go home.

"When can you come over tomorrow?" Ryou asked, there was still a slight tinge of red on his cheeks.

"I can come right after school if you want" I replied as he walked me to the door again.

"That sounds good," he paused to look at me that smile on his lips "be ready to try on clothes" with that said he embraced me for only a moment, before I could react he pulled away.

"I'll see you tomorrow then" I said grinning before I left to go home.

-Normal POV-

As Ryou watched Bakura leave, strange thoughts began to enter his mind _He looked good without a shirt on, I wonder if he noticed that I was staring the whole time._ A light blush formed on his cheeks, when he couldn't see Bakura any more he closed and locked the door behind him. He walked to his room and sat down on the bed before looking at the finished model.

Ryou couldn't help but feel a little sad that when they finish and turn in the project he might not hang around Bakura anymore. He shook his head _Bakura is my friend. Just because we'll be finished with this project doesn't mean that he'll never hang out with me again. _He sighed softly before he stood and walked over to the desk, it was then he noticed that the book was still there. He could have sworn that he gave the book back to Bakura the day after he left it there. Ryou shrugged then went into the living room and began to watch T.V.

--

Bakura walked though the door to his still empty house, a small smile on his lips. He's never been so at ease in his life and the thought of going to Ryou's after school the next day made him excited.

He walked up the stairs and tossed his bag onto the floor before he walked into the bathroom to take a shower. He looked at himself in the mirror, his brown eyes staring back at him. _I now understand why I'm not cruel to Ryou_ He thought _I like him...I guess...he'll be good for me._ Bakura tried to remember the last time he laughed so much, he couldn't remember a time before he laughed with Ryou.

He gave up on trying to remember and just began to remove his clothes lost in thought _I wonder what Ryou has in mind when he asked if we could dress the part...Maybe he has Egyptian clothing. _Bakura washed his hair and body quickly as he continued to think about Ryou.

When he finished he quickly dressed in a pair of black silk pajamas and walked out of the bathroom still trying to get his hair dry. Bakura sighed softly as he sat down on his bed _so tomorrow will be the last day we can work on the project before turning it in...Will Ryou still hang around me when it's finished? _He tossed the towel onto the floor and lay down on his soft bed closing his eyes. _I guess I'll just wait and see _he thought as he drifted off to sleep.

--

_Pale arms wrapped around the thin white haired youth and pulled him closer, Ryou leaned against the firm chest, he knew who it was. He closed his eyes to take in the warmth the other's body was radiating; it was a bit cold where he was at that moment. He felt his head being guided to the side then soft lips pressed against his own before those same lips traveled down his jaw and to his neck._

_Ryou moaned softly and opened his eyes as he was turned to face the other; he wasn't too surprised to see Bakura there with a soft smile on his lips. He reached over and gently stroked the smaller teen's cheek before playing with his hair for a moment. It appeared as if Bakura was speaking to him...trying to tell him something, but Ryou heard nothing. Before he could think about it, the other was kissing him passionately._

_Bakura's hands slid slowly under Ryou's shirt and over soft flawless skin, when his hand brushed against a small nub, the smaller of the two gasped softly. Liking this reaction Bakura placed the small nub between his thumb and forefinger and tweaked it gently earning a soft moan. He continued to play with it until he decided to do the same to the other one. He then slowly began to remove the shirt from its owner's body only to discard it to the side when he finished. _

_Bakura leaned down and claimed the other's lips again before he moved from Ryou's lips to his jaw, then to his neck nibbling and suckling there for a moment before continuing downward. He bit down softly on his collar bone before kissing down his chest pausing for a moment then taking one of the small nubs into his mouth suckling it gently._

_Ryou gasped softly and arched his back trying to get more of Bakura's touch, this seemed to work because the older teen switched and did the same to the other before he continued to trail kisses down Ryou's chest only to hear the other make little sounds of delight. Bakura dipped his tongue into Ryou's belly button before stopping completely earning groan of disappointment from the other._

_Bakura gazed at the other's bare chest before he removed his own shirt tossing it to the ground with the others. He smiled softly as he began to undo Ryou's pants not taking long for him to remove the annoying things along with the other's boxers and tossing them to the floor. _

_There he paused to look over Ryou's body, Bakura's lips moved to once again say something but no sound was made. He looked slightly surprised for a moment before he shrugged and leaned down to continued to kiss down Ryou's body purposely missing his arousal and kissed his inner thigh. _

_Ryou wriggled slightly trying to rub against the other whom noticing this decided to hold his hips down so he couldn't move as freely. The smaller of the two whimpered softly before he opened his eyes to gaze to his soon to be lover finding him to be missing his clothing as well. Not caring when it happened he once again attempted to buck his hips and rub himself against Bakura, but being held down he failed._

_After a few moments of this torment, Bakura decided to firmly grasp Ryou's weeping need, earning a soft moan from the other. He lifted his head to gaze upon the other's pleasure filled features as he began to thrust his hand excruciatingly slow, in doing so he released Ryou's hips allowing him to thrust them into his hand in order to speed up the pace a little bit._

_Ryou froze for a moment when he felt a finger push into his entrance, it took a few moments to get used to the feeling. When he did he moved slightly to encourage Bakura to continue with the preparation his body would need for what the other had planned. He arched his back as Bakura added another finger and made a scissoring motion to help stretch Ryou's entrance. _

_Somewhere Bakura had let go of Ryou's member in order to gently caress his body, a small smile of his lips. Ryou looked at the other with a 'get on with it' look on his face. Bakura smirked at this and removed his fingers. He quickly positioned himself at his angel's entrance, looking at Ryou he slowly slid into the other's heat. It took a lot of his self control to not just thrust in and hurt his lover. He groaned softly when he was fully sheathed, his eyes opened and he gazed at Ryou._

_Ryou's face was flushed and sweat was dripping from his face, this sight alone was almost enough to make Bakura come right then and there. He slowly began to thrust in and out of the younger teen earning soft moans and little noises of desire. _

_The younger male was slightly surprised that all he felt was pleasure, he expected there to be at least a little bit of pain involved. He moaned loudly when Bakura hit that one spot that made him see stars. _

_Bakura smirked as he hit the one spot again earning another loud moan. He closed his eyes and quickened the pace with Ryou's help. _

_They continued on like this for a few more moments before Bakura grasped Ryou weeping member firmly and began pumping in time with his thrusts. With a loud moan Ryou climaxed spilling his seed all over his and Bakura's chest, his back arched and his muscles clenched on Bakura causing him to climax as well, his essence filling his lover._

_With a soft kiss Bakura pulled out of Ryou and laid down next to him pulling him close. His lips moved to say something, but again no sound escaped. Ryou was becoming worried, he watched Bakura and tried to read his lips, but found he couldn't do that either. _

_He sighed softly closing his eyes, when he opened them again he found that Bakura was no where to be found, and he was standing in darkness fully clothed. "What's going on?" he jumped slightly at the sound of his own voice, well he can speak now at least._

"_**What is it you wish to have?"**_

"_What?"_

"_**Do you want him as your own?"**_

"_Bakura?...I guess I do"_

"_**I can help you"**_

"_You can?"_

"_**All you have to do is...kill him"**_

"_What?"_

_A maniacal laugher filled the darkness; Ryou looked around franticly trying to find the owner of the voice. "Who are you?"_

"_**All you have to do is kill him...and I can give you his soul"**_

"_Forget it!"_

_The laughter appeared once again this time Ryou cried out "I will never do such a thing!" _

Ryou's eyes shot open, sweat covering his face. The beginning of the dream was lost to him; all he remembered was the second half. He sat up slowly and put his hand on his forehead "I don't want to kill him" he whispered to himself "All I want is for him to..." he cut himself off realizing what he was going to say.

He turned his head to look at the digital clock, it was 5:00am, at least he woke up in time to get ready for school. He got out of bed slowly and went to take a shower. _What exactly did that dream mean?_ He thought _there was more to it...I know that much...I just don't remember._ He shook his head slightly before he continued to get ready for school.

---

School went by excruciatingly slow for the two teens; they each looked up at the clock several times throughout the day.

Ryou was on his way to lunch when Yugi and his partner Nondai, Yami came up to him with a smile on each of their lips. He smiled softly at them when they approached.

"Hey Bakura" Yugi said grinning; Ryou had to resist the urge to look around for Bakura even though his last name is Bakura.

"Hi" he replied with a wave.

"I'd like to introduce my...uh...partner Yami" he blushed slightly and gestured to the taller boy who extended his hand for Ryou to shake.

"Nice to meet you Yami" Ryou said glancing around trying to find Bakura; it had become a habit he formed these past two weeks. It took a moment for him to realize that Yugi was still talking to him. "Uh...I'm a bit hungry...I'll see you guys later" Ryou quickly excused himself and went to find his partner.

The rest of the day went by a little quicker than the morning did, most likely because Ryou and Bakura spent as much time as they could together.

The bell indicating the end of school rang releasing the students to do as they wished for the rest of the day. In this case, releasing Ryou and Bakura to go home...er to Ryou's house anyway.

They walked to Ryou's house talking about their 'interesting' day, or lack there of. Ryou unlocked his door and allowed his friend to enter first, who walked in and set his backpack down on the living room floor.

"So, what do you have planned?" Bakura asked looking around again, no matter how many times he was in this house he never got enough of looking around; it was just something about the way it was decorated that he loved so much.

"Just follow me and you'll see" Ryou replied with a small smile on his lips, he slowly turned and walked into another room. Bakura followed without a word into a room he never entered before.

The room was kind of big, but didn't appear that way because of the things littering the walls and the floor. Looking around he noticed that everything in the room was Egyptian; there was jewelry, clothing, and other assorted items from Egypt.

Bakura grinned "When you asked if we could dress that part...you meant it" he looked at Ryou, who had an impish grin on his lips.

"Yes, of course that's what I had planned" he replied before he went to pick something out from him to wear "Pick out anything you want" Ryou said as he took off his jacket and shirt so he could try on an Egyptian tunic. It was white with a golden collar and it only reached about mid thigh in length, the sash was also gold. Ryou removed the rest of his normal clothing and put on some Egyptian sandals that laced up his legs just under his knees.

He rustled though some other things, once he found what he wanted he grinned and began to put the jewelry on. Around his neck he put on a golden choker with a ruby at about the hollow of his throat, around each arm just below the shoulder he put solid gold bands. A small smile stayed on his lips the whole time he was putting the jewelry on. Just below where the tunic ends a golden snake with ruby eyes was wrapped around his leg.

Ryou turned around to show Bakura the outfit only to find that the other was watching him the whole time.

Bakura blinked a few times before he smiled brightly "It's only missing one thing" he stated before he began to search for that 'something' the outfit was missing. When he found it he stepped up to Ryou and placed it on his head. It turned out to be a golden coronet that looked like something a pharaoh would wear, he stepped back to admire Ryou before he began to look around for something he could wear.

Ryou stared at Bakura for a moment before he decided to help him find something that would fit him. He paused for a moment _I'm dressed like Royalty...so maybe..._ he pulled out a tunic type thing that was missing the top. "This" he tossed it to the other before he started to dig for something else.

Bakura stopped what he was doing and looked at it for a moment before he shrugged and began to undress so he could change into whatever Ryou picked out for him. The other knew more about what he had anyways, maybe he also knew more about how to wear the clothes so they looked good. He put on the skirt like thing before he looked at Ryou again to see what else he had for him.

Ryou had pulled out a red robe with white trim and a hood and handed it to his friend "This too" he said as he watched Bakura put it on. A light blush formed on his cheeks when he noticed that he was staring at Bakura's chest again and quickly turned his head.

Bakura noticed this and grinned, at least the attraction wasn't one sided. He found a white piece of fabric that was attached to a gold band that was obviously used to keep it on his head; he looked at it for a moment before he placed it on his head the grin not faltering.

Ryou turned back to look at him and nearly dropped the pendent in his hands, his eyes widened slightly and the blush on his cheeks deepened before he began to giggle.

"What?" Bakura asked with a confused look on his face.

"You look like a thief" he stated trying to stop his giggling.

"Hm...That's kind of fitting if you ask me" came the reply.

"Huh?"

"You're a pharaoh and I'm a thief...perfect" Bakura grinned and stepped a little closer to Ryou.

Ryou only smiled softly as he watched Bakura step closer to him.

"Now...what can I steal?" Bakura asked lowering his voice just a little.

_Not much you can steal; you already have my heart _Ryou thought with a soft blush on his cheeks.

Bakura had a similar thing in mind, but of course, neither said anything about it. The thief stepped up to Ryou so he was only a few inches away from him; he slowly leaned in and wrapped his arms around the other's waist.

Ryou's mind was reeling _is he going to kiss me?_ He asked himself as a deep blush crept onto his cheeks.

Bakura placed his head on Ryou's shoulder and pulled him close to his chest, a small smile played on his lips "I know what I _could_ steal," he said his voice barely above a whisper "but I won't... _yet_" with that said, he released the blushing teen and took a few steps back looking at him, that smile never leaving his lips.

Ryou's eyes widened slightly before he closed them, so Bakura felt the same way, now all he had to do was tell the other how he felt. How is he supposed to do that?

--End of Chapter 2--

A/N: I'm so sorry this took so long to get up...at first I was just being lazy, but then my damn internet died! Alrightly...well...The more reviews I get the faster I will update.


	3. The Presentation and a New Enemy

A/N: Thank you to those who reviewed the last few chapters, you don't know how much that boosts my confidence. I'm sorry that this took me so damn long to finish; I got caught up in school…not to mention I'm very lazy. My stalker decided that I was taking long enough, so she locked me in her closet and wouldn't feed me until I finished this chapter, so here it is.

Warnings: Language, Shounen Ai/Yaoi, Torture, Character Death, and some OOCness

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, or any of the characters except for the characters that you do not recognize.

**A Project of Fate**

Chapter 3: The Presentation and a New Enemy

-Ryou's POV-

I walked into my history class while trying to carry our project, almost dropping it in the process. Luckily, Bakura was arriving at the same time and caught the model before it hit the ground "Good catch" I said before I gestured for him to follow me.

He held the sphinx carefully in his arms and the bag with the costumes in it slung over his shoulder. We had decided that we would change into the costumes during class, that way we didn't have to wear them all day. Bakura set the sphinx model down on the desk before he sat down. I watched him for a moment before I sat next to him setting the report on the desk in front of me.

Before class had a chance to start Bakura stood up and walked over to the teachers desk. I couldn't hear him from where I was sitting, but I knew what he was saying when he gestured towards the bag and then me. Ms. Shimaia smiled slightly then nodded. Bakura grinned then turned to me and gestured for me to follow him as he walked towards the door.

I quickly stood up to follow him. We walked out the door and to the bathroom in silence, as I couldn't think of anything to say at that moment in time. When we arrived at the bathroom he pulled out our costumes and handed me the one I was to wear with a smile on his face. I gazed at him for a moment before going into one of the stalls to change.

I took off my jacket and shirt so I could put on the Egyptian tunic. The white with the golden collar seemed lighter then before and it brushed against my mid thigh, the golden sash hanging down a little past the bottom of the tunic. I removed the rest of my normal clothing and put on the Egyptian sandals that laced up my legs just under my knees. I picked up the accessories and put them on, the golden collar fitting just right, like last time.

I placed the golden bands on the right places on my body before I left the stall, I was finished before Bakura so I spent the time I had left to put my normal clothes in the bag and then fix my hair.

I stared at my refection for a moment before I spotted Bakura standing behind me in his Egyptian thief clothing. I smiled slightly as I turned to look at him, he was grinning at me.

"Shall we go back?" he asked gesturing to the door. Before I knew it he was standing right in front of me, his face merely inches from my own.

"Uh…" I knew right then I must have been beet red, my cheeks felt like they were on fire. I had no idea what he was doing, was he going to kiss me? The thought just made my face burn more.

"What's the matter?" he asked, I'm pretty sure he was teasing me now. I placed my hands on his shoulders and pushed him away a little.

"We should get back to class now" I said. All he did was grin and nod as I watched him put his clothes in the bag.

On our way back, we got a lot of attention because of our clothes. It appeared that Bakura was just ignoring it, though I had no such luck. It was hard for me to ignore the stares I received.

Before I could say anything about it to Bakura we were already in front of the classroom. I was surprised to see that class actually hadn't started yet. We entered the room and walked over to the desks that we were going to be sitting at for the rest of the year.

I could feel the class's eyes on us as we moved, it was as if no one else even thought about this. I just ignored them and took my seat.

My gaze wandered to the other small groups to see if they were both there or not.

The first two I looked at was Jounouchi Katsuya and Kaiba Seto; I think they did America. They appeared to be in friendly terms now, a bit too friendly. What had happened over those two weeks? Wait…were they holding hands?! I slowly shook my head and turned my eyes away, that was just too weird.

Mouto Yugi and Nondai Yami seemed to just be conversing, but Yugi seemed to be a bit flustered about something. I'm pretty sure they did their project on England seeing that their model was of Big Ben, the large clock tower that was located in London. I didn't spend much time watching them, it made me a little jealous how close they seemed.

Before I saw anyone else the bell to start class rang and the teacher began to take roll.

I found that concentrating on everyone else's presentations was rather challenging. Jounouchi and Kaiba had only just started when my eyes decided to stare at Bakura. Of course, I wasn't arguing. Though as soon as he turned to look at me, I turned my head quickly and acted as if I was paying attention to the presentation instead. I figured that he knew I was staring at him, because there was a small smile on his lips after a while.

-Bakura's POV-

I could feel his eyes on me; I knew he was staring. I had to resist not staring back, and tried to concentrate on the presentations going on at the time. Ryou and I would have to give ours soon, though I'm positive we're ready for it.

We had prepared almost every day for two weeks for this thing, and we're going to do it perfectly.

I glanced over to the teacher for a moment then smiled slightly, she seemed awfully pleased with herself. Apparently this is the first time her whole class did the project assigned. I knew that she had a method to whom she paired together, and I also know that she paired me with Ryou so I would hopefully stop causing trouble.

I silently agreed with her about that. Because of this project I was able to get to know Ryou quite a bit…and I was able to be myself. Yeah, I was myself when I was causing trouble, but when I'm with him, I'm a different myself. Ugh, I'm just getting confused thinking like that.

Before I could really think about more, it was our turn to give our presentation. I glanced over to Ryou and gave an encouraging smile before I stood and walked to the front of the class with the model tucked safely under my arm. I turned to see him following me with the report in hand.

I watched him hand in the report then walk over to stand next to me. He gestured for me to hold the sphinx model out so everyone could see it clearly, of course I did. A few of the students gasped when they saw that I listened and did what Ryou told me to as we gave our presentation. He began by telling everyone what we did the project on then continued telling about the country.

I couldn't help but notice that he was speaking clearly and loud enough for everyone to hear. He wasn't at all shy in front of a bunch of people, unlike a few people I saw come up here. When it was my turn to speak I did the same, speaking clearly, though I had to keep glaring at those who were staring at Ryou in a way I didn't like.

We both explained the kind of clothing we wore to everyone; we received a few 'oohs' and 'ahs' before we even finished. A few people found it funny that I was in a thief's clothing, but shut up as soon as my eyes reached them.

It appeared as if we didn't lose the interest of anyone as they all watched us waiting for more. "And that concludes our presentation" Ryou said with a smile, everyone clapped as I handed the model to the teacher before following Ryou to our seats.

I wasn't too surprised when a few people suddenly became to nervous to even speak right, I merely chuckled to myself before glancing over to Ryou "Great job" I whispered as to not disrupt the on goings of the class.

He turned to me and smiled brightly "You did great too, you know" he replied. I could actually feel my cheeks becoming warmer after that comment.

We were both silent for a few minutes, though before either of us could say anything more, the teacher told us we could go change back into our normal clothes. Taking her up on the offer, we stood, picked up our bags, and left the classroom.

Despite the fact that we probably got an A on the assignment, Ryou appeared nervous. "What's wrong?" I asked as I opened the door to the men's bathroom for him.

I watched as he merely walked into the bathroom giving me a small "Nothing" as he passed. After a moment I just followed, deciding not to press the matter. It probably was nothing.

"Well, lets get changed…" I murmured softly before going into one of the stalls and began to change into my normal clothing. I kind of didn't want to, I liked how comfortable the Egyptian clothing was, and how it felt against my skin.

After several moments of silence, Ryou finally spoke "Do you think we passed?" he asked, his voice gentle like always. I couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Of course I do, we did the best in the class" I replied while pulling my shirt over my head.

"Yeah…your right"

"Is anything wrong?" I asked pausing for a moment with what I was doing.

"It's just…I'm still a little weirded out, what with all the awkward stares I received" he said softly. I could tell that it really bothered him.

"Don't worry about it, Ryou," I answered continuing what I was doing "I'll make sure that nothing happens."

The heard the click of Ryou's stall as he opened the door slowly, hesitantly. I smiled slightly before opening my own stall and gazing out at him though the mirror.

"So…we're still friends? Even though the project is done?" He asked softly, his eyes were turned down from the mirror so I couldn't see them.

So that's what he was worried about. I couldn't help but sigh softly, what was I going to do with this guy? I took those last few steps out of the stall before dropping my bag onto the floor next to his.

I watched as Ryou's shoulders began to shake slightly, my eyes widened. Was he crying?

Before I knew what I was doing, I turned him to face me then wrapped my arms around him and held him close "Shhh, of course we are Ryou" I whispered into his hair "I'm not stupid enough to leave you now that I found you."

He froze slightly in my embrace, but soon relaxed. Was it just me, or did what I just said to him sound like some sort of love confession? I felt my cheeks heat up at the thought; it wasn't that big of deal though. I do love him.

"…. -ura? Are you all right?" Ryou asked, his voice cutting though my thoughts. He looked up at me with concerned green eyes causing me to smile slightly.

"Yeah, I'm fine" I replied "are you ok?"

"Yes! I'm ok now," I chuckled slightly at the enthusiastic-ness of his answer, my cheeks heated a little bit, at least he's not crying anymore.

-Normal POV-

They stood there for a moment, Ryou in Bakura's gentle embrace. A small shy smile was playing on the smaller teen's lips as he rested his head on the other's chest.

"I'm glad" Bakura replied softly.

Slowly, Ryou lifted his head to gaze at the taller male, that small smile never leaving his lips. He almost seemed to lose himself in those dark brown eyes that were more tender then they were two weeks ago.

After what seemed like only a few seconds to them, Ryou spoke softly "We should get back," he murmured; though Bakura could tell that he didn't really want to go back at the moment.

Bakura nodded slightly, but didn't move to let go of Ryou or leave. This confused the other quite a bit, soft emerald colored eyes gazing into the darker brown ones curiously with a light flush on his cheeks.

"Uh," Bakura cleared his throat before reluctantly releasing the smaller teen "right, lets go then." He said adverting his eyes as he went to retrieve his bag just a little ways away. After slinging it over his shoulder, he gestured for Ryou to follow him back to the classroom.

Ryou nodded and quickly followed after grabbing his bag as well.

Their walk back to the classroom was rather awkward, as they wouldn't look up at each other. Ryou didn't know why, but he found that the silence between them to be almost suffocating. He just couldn't think of what to say to 'break the ice' as one would put it.

As if sensing this, Bakura spoke softly "Want to go out for an early dinner after school today?" he asked glancing at the other white haired boy.

Ryou lifted his head quickly to look at the other, a wide grin on his face "Sure!" he exclaimed, once again excited; causing Bakura to chuckle softly, Ryou never ceased to amuse him.

When they reached the classroom, Ryou entered first, closely followed by the darker teen. All was soon silent as they moved towards the desks they were sitting at for those two weeks. Bakura took a seat next to Ryou, which he had now claimed for the rest of the year. No one wanted to argue with him about it either.

Ryou turned to the other and smiled softly which soon faded when he noticed a girl with jaw length brown hair approach them, glancing at Bakura, he realized that he noticed as well and had a scowl on his face. Ryou of course knew this girl, no matter how much she annoyed him. She was Mazaki Anzu, the bane of this world, as he'd like to put it.

"What do you want Mazaki?" Bakura asked coldly, seeming to spit out her name at the end.

She didn't seem at all effected by this as she smiled almost too sweetly, which made Ryou feel slightly sick, "I just wanted to know if you would like to grab a bite to eat after school with me today." Anzu said as she gazed longingly at Bakura.

Ryou froze where he sat before turning to his counterpart waiting for an answer. He may look clam on the outside, but his mind was in a panic. _What if he says yes, will he just cancel our dinner? Will he toss me aside for this annoyance? Does he even car-_

"I told you before Mazaki, I'm not interested in the likes of you." Bakura said in a tone that could almost freeze water, "besides, I have plans already." He murmured glancing over to Ryou, who seemed quite surprised.

"But-"

"The answer is no, Mazaki, you can leave now." The white haired teen said with a dismissing gesture as he looked at Ryou, a small smirk on his lips.

Anzu stared at him for a moment; a disbelieving look on her face before her now angered gaze fell upon Ryou. "So you're interested in the likes of _him_?" she asked angrily gesturing towards him, Bakura was looking back at her in an instant.

His glare turned icy as his eyes narrowed dangerously "And if I am? What will you do, girl?" he hissed so quietly that only Ryou and Anzu could possibly hear him. The smaller boy's eyes widened slightly at the revelation while Anzu looked as if someone had run over her cat several times in a row.

Anzu opened her mouth to speak, but Bakura cut her off before she said a word "You will never win against Ryou, so why don't you go and bother someone else with that annoying personality of yours." He said harshly while waving her off once again.

The brown haired girl looked as if she were going to cry; her eyes shining with unshed tears. Anzu turned quickly and muttered something like 'I won't give up' before stalking back to her seat.

Ryou watched in amazement, his cheeks still flushed from what the other white haired teen has said. So that was the cruel boy he had heard so much about, Ryou couldn't help but wonder how cruel Bakura really is.

Suddenly, the bell indicating the end of class rang. They hadn't even noticed that it was almost time to go when they returned to class. Bakura was quick to his feet as he began to gather his things, Ryou doing the same.

They walked out of the room together, though Ryou was fidgeting slightly seemingly nervous about something. It didn't take long for Bakura to notice something was bothering him.

"What's wrong Ryou?" he asked softly as he stopped the other and pulled him closer to the wall so that they weren't in the way of other students.

"I…I've gotta tell you something," Ryou said nervously as he eyes drifted to Bakura's.

Bakura nodded slightly "Alright," he said as a small smile formed on his lips.

Ryou's fidgeting increased "I…I'll tell you after school. When we're alone so no one can overhear me."

The other's nervousness caused him to be quite curious of what his little angel had to say. Of course he understood and nodded before he gestured for Ryou to get to class "I'll meet you by the willow tree behind the school!" Bakura called as he walked off, leaving Ryou standing there for a moment before he decided he should get to class as well.

--

The last bell of the day cut though the air before students began pouring out of the school building. A few grumbled as they had to go around some stupid girl sitting on the steps, who was it? Mazaki Anzu.

She growled softly to herself as she waited for all to leave and to finally be alone. It didn't take long before there was no longer anyone around her and she could talk to herself, which she often did.

"Damn that Ryou," Anzu hissed as she clenched and unclenched her hands "damn him for stealing Bakura away from me!" she growled, blue eyes narrowing and glaring at the ground as if it were at fault here.

"He was never yours in the first place," started an almost hauntingly soft voice "how could he be stolen away?" it asked.

Anzu jumped slightly before turning and looking around franticly to find the owner of the voice. Upon finding no one there she let out a frustrated sigh "Great, now I'm hearing voices, just lovely." She muttered as her glare returned to the ground.

"You're not hearing voices girl," it stated before a figure stepped out of the shadows, deep crimson eyes stared down at her in what looked like disgust as she turned to look. The figure was soon confirmed to be male, standing at only five feet and ten inches tall; he seemed to tower over Anzu quite easily. The owner of the voice looked no older then seventeen years old, his strange dark hair falling over his shoulders.

"Who are you?" Anzu asked nervously as she stared at him.

"I can help you get Bakura for yourself," He stated with a sinister smile "and help you get rid of Ryou."

"You can?" she asked as she got to her feet and stepped closer to him, but he seemed to twitch lightly as she approached.

The teen nodded slightly, but other then that stood unmoving. This girl was going to play right into his hands. How foolish she was in thinking that Bakura was even remotely interested in her. He would just have to let her find out the hard way.

"My name is Mazaki Anzu," she said holding out her hand in greeting.

The boy merely looked at her hand in disgust "I know who you are," he said. "You may call me Etaf," he stated before turning his head slightly to the side "I believe that we will get along just fine." Etaf said before he slowly began down the steps.

---

Ryou sat nervously at the base of the willow tree with a book in his hands. Soft emerald eyes stared down at the pages, but he wasn't really reading. He couldn't focus on that, his thoughts were only on Bakura and what his reaction might be.

The white haired teen had thought about this since he said that he was going to tell the other, now there was no getting out of it. A small smile formed on his lips as he thought about Bakura embracing him so gently just a few hours ago, then the words he told Anzu came to mind. He couldn't fight the flush the rose in his cheeks at these thoughts.

He knew that he was in love with his friend. He had known for quite a while now, it was just telling him that was his problem. Ryou didn't want to ruin what they already had. The last thing he wanted was to lose the only friend he was able to talk to about anything.

Ryou jumped lightly at the sound of the bushes behind him rustling gently, as if someone were moving around. He slowly closed the book and placed it back into his bag before standing and turning to the bushes "Bakura?" he asked softly as he took a step forward.

"I'm afraid not," said a voice he's never heard before causing him to take a step back.

"Then…who are you?" he asked almost fearfully as his eyes continuously searched for who might be there as well as for Bakura.

One figure stood from the bushes while another moved from behind the tree Ryou was sitting at. The first was Anzu, who just glared at him silently and he got a bad feeling about this. The second was a boy he had never seen before, but seemed familiar in a different way.

"You wont be able to see your darling Bakura, I'm afraid," said the dark haired boy "you see, I…we are taking you from him." He said, correcting himself before Anzu could hear that mistake, but Ryou didn't miss it as he gazed at the other boy curiously.

"Then he will have no choice then to date me!" Anzu said cheerfully, the boy rolled his eyes, obviously disgusted by anything the girl says.

Ryou couldn't help but wonder why he kept her around if she annoyed him so much, though he didn't have much time to wonder about this. Before he could so much as blink, the world began to go black, the last thing he saw was Bakura looking panicked, frantic, and angry.

The now unconscious Ryou fell into the dark haired boys arms before he quickly lifted the other, turning to smirk at Bakura, who was running at full speed towards them. Without any warning to Anzu, he turned and walked into the shadows, disappearing completely, the girl franticly followed as to not get left behind.

Bakura raced towards the shadow they had vanished though, but it disappeared just before he reached it. The white haired teen slammed into the ground harshly, but didn't move to get up. Dark brown eyes clenched tightly shut as he cried out angrily "Fucking damn it!"

Slowly the teen got to his feet, his entire body shaking with anger and…sadness. Bakura wanted to scream into the air, tell the world of his anger, but he couldn't seem to form the words. He wanted nothing more them to rip them apart for taking Ryou away from him. Taking the only person he ever loved away.

Bakura clenched his fists at his sides, his knuckles turning white from the strain. It would be a wonder if they survived this. If Bakura got a hold of them he will rip them apart, limb from limb. Nothing will be left. Nothing.

It didn't take long for his legs to began to move on there own, seeming to lead somewhere where he knew would help him. The anger subsided when he found himself in front of a house he hadn't visited since a little after he began hanging out with Ryou. Slowly he knocked on the door and waited.

As soon as it opened, tears began to form in his eyes, startling the blond in the doorway. "What happened?" he asked in an astonished voice. Lavender eyes staring at his best friend "Bakura?"

Bakura threw himself into the other's arms and began to cry softly into his friends black tank top, "They…they took him, Marik" he whimpered, shaking his head as if it weren't true.

"I'm going to get him back. Even if it's the last thing I do." Bakura said though his tears as Marik began to lead him into the house, rubbing his back gently trying to comfort his friend.

--End of Chapter 3—

A/N: It's about time I'm finished with this one! Really! Anyway. Please Review!!


	4. Putting the Plan in Motion

A/N: Thank you so much to those who reviewed! I'm sorry this chapter took so long, I ran out of inspiration for a little while. This is seriously taking on a life of it's own. I didn't plan on most of the things that happened in this chapter, though I'm quite happy with it. I hope you enjoy!

Warnings: Language, Shounen Ai/Yaoi, Torture, Character Death, and some OOCness

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, or any of the characters except for the characters that you do not recognize.

**A Project of Fate**

Chapter 4: Putting the Plan in Motion

-Ryou's POV-

This sensation, it was odd. I could hear nothing, see nothing, feel nothing. I was surrounded by complete darkness, it was almost suffocating. At this point, I couldn't tell whether my eyes were open or closed, I was overcome by immense fear when I realized that I had no idea where I was. I opened my mouth and cried out, but I heard nothing, this scared me even more. Where was Bakura? Was he alright? Actually, am I alright? I couldn't tell either way. I didn't even know if I was alive anymore, or if I was just unconscious.

Slowly, the darkness began to fade and I could feel again. Suddenly I didn't want to feel as my head began to throb dully, indicating that I was very much alive. I seem to be laying on something soft, but there was something heavy weighing on my wrists and ankles, though I wasn't brave enough to open my eyes just yet.

After a few moments of just lying there unmoving, I began to hear voices from, what I guessed, the other room.

"...sure this will work?" asked a women's voice. I had to keep from growling when I realized who it was.

"I'm positive," replied the man's voice calmly, it was the person who had kidnaped me.

"I can't help but think it's a same," I heard Anzu say, peaking my curiosity, "he looks an awful lot like Bakura, I wonder if I could have him as well..."

"You will not!" the man hissed almost angrily, I couldn't help but be a little angry as well.

"Fine. What do you plan to do?" Anzu asked.

"It is no business of yours, things will go as I planned" he said, quite obviously annoyed with Anzu's questions.

Something else was said, but I could no longer hear the conversation. What was he up too? And why the hell was he working with _Anzu _of all people.

There was the sound of a door opening close by, I figured that it was the door to the room I'm in. A light 'click' sounded before everything brightened, though my eyes remained closed. I didn't want whoever was in the room to see that I was awake.

"Rotten girl, I do not do this for _her_ sake," the person muttered in an annoyed manner, it was the man who kidnaped me. I heard a louder click, which I assumed was him closing the door behind him.

There was the soft rustling of clothing followed by a soft thump, of what I assumed was cloth. Light footsteps traveled closer to where I was laying before the soft thing I was on gave in to his weight and caused me to roll closer to him after he sat.

"Ryou," he murmured softly, which surprised me quite a bit, "I know you're awake, no need to pretend."

Damn, I was caught. Slowly I opened my eyes, wincing lightly at the sudden blinding like. When my eyes got used to the brightness of the room, I turned my gaze to him.

I stared at him in shock as my eyes met crimson. I've never seen that color of eyes before. His hair was the pitchest black I've ever seen and it hung gracefully over his shoulders. His skin was a light tan color, almost as if he were Egyptian. If I said he wasn't attractive, I would be lying. _Badly_. He didn't look any older then me and appeared to be a lot kinder then he sounded while talking to Anzu.

I then noticed that he was no longer wearing the long cloak that he had on when I first saw him. He looked a lot less intimidating without it.

"I'm sure you're wondering where you are and who I am, and even why I took you," he started, starling me out of my thoughts.

I nodded slightly.

"You are in my home at the moment, in my guest bedroom to be exact," he started "As for my name...I'm known only as Etaf," I knew he was Egyptian! His name proves it.

"Now, why I took you. That's a little harder to explain without you getting angry at me.. actually, I'm pretty sure you're angry at me already. So I'll just explain," Etaf said shaking his head lightly. It appeared as if the thought of me being angry at him...upsets him. Why is that?

"I suppose I could start it this way, you are bait...sort of."

"What?!" I said before I could stop myself.

"I can't really tell you the details right now, but you'll find out eventually." he said calmly.

There was silence for a long while so I took this opportunity to look around the room. It was a beautifully decorated room, the carpet was a deep crimson and looked soft to the touch. The walls were white, though they were covered in golden Hieroglyphics, I couldn't quite decipher what they said. I was lying in a very large bed with a crimson blanket and white sheets that appeared to be silk, probably Egyptian as well, I could see the door he came in from where I lie. Next to the bed as a fine wooden nightstand and opposite of that was a dresser made of the same wood, next to the dresser was another door, which I think led to a bathroom. There actually wasn't much else in the room. It really looked like a guest room.

"Well, get comfortable," Etaf said finally, adverting his eyes away from me.

"Why?" I asked, even though I was pretty sure why.

"You'll be here for a while, at least until Bakura is able to find the place." He explained. So he was expecting Bakura to find this place and come for me. What exactly was he planning?

Slowly, I sat up and looked at my wrists to see why they were being weighted down so much. I froze at what I saw, shackles, both at my wrist and my ankles. The silver glittered mockingly at me as the chains jingled lightly at my movement.

"I can't have you running away, now can I?" Etaf asked before continuing "The chains are long enough so that you can go anywhere in this room and even to the bathroom," he said gesturing to the closed door across the room.

"I have a question." I said softly, surprising myself slightly.

"Alright," he replied.

"Why are you being nice to me?"

"Ah, I really can't tell you that right now, I might later on though. Any other questions?" Etaf asked.

"Yeah. Why Anzu?" I asked making a face.

Etaf chuckled almost darkly before answering in the tone I heard him speaking to her earlier, "Because she is immensely easy to manipulate, and I assume that she will no longer be in once piece when Bakura gets a hold of her," he shook his head lightly.

I knew exactly what he was talking about.

"So. Are you hungry?" I stared at him in shock before nodding slightly. "I'll go get something for you then, don't want you starving in here" he said as he smiled kindly at me.

Without another word, he stood, lifted his cloak from the floor, put it on, and left the room, leaving me alone to think about everything that was going on.

-Bakura's POV-

I felt numb, as if there was nothing left for me as I sat in Marik's living room. I'm not even sure why I came here. Maybe I just needed to get it all out, and Marik was the only one I trusted enough to tell.

"You really love him then?" He asked in an astonished voice. I can understand why he would be surprised like this. I've never loved anyone before. Sure, I love Marik, but only as a friend.

"Yeah..I don't know when it happened," I replied. It was painful. Why did it hurt to talk about this?

There was a long pause as I stared at the cluttered coffee table in front of me.

"Can I help?" I just slightly and turned wide eyes to my blond friend. "You obviously love this boy a lot, and I don't like seeing you like this. Bakura..Get a hold of yourself." he said finally.

I blinked a few times before nodding slightly. I shook my head for a moment before placing by signature smirk on my lips.

"Now _that's_ the Bakura I know." He said ginning in that insane way of his. He was, to date, the only person I know to be just as dangerous as I am.

"Well, it's been a day," I started crossing my arms over my chest "they couldn't have gotten too far, and I assume that Anzu will be staying." I growled softly after mentioning her name. I thought I hated her before. Hah! Nothing will beat how much I want to murder that girl.

"What do you have in mind?" Marik asked, smirking.

I paused to gather my thoughts before my smirk turned into a grin "We will trick the girl of course!" I announced proudly.

"How?"

"I can only guess that she's doing this because she saw Ryou as an obstacle, she seems to think that if she got rid of Ryou, I would go right to her." He snorted in amusement and shook his head, I couldn't agree with him more. "What I'm planning, is that you," I gestured to him, smirking once again "will pretend that you are my lover and try to befriend her, in context that she got rid of 'the nuisance' as you will refer to him as." I explained.

He seemed to like that idea quite a bit, a wide grin on his lips.

"I might have to prove that I'm your lover, she probably wont trust just my word," Marik said crossing his arms over his chest, mirroring me.

"You're right, she probably wont, which is why you're going to kiss me in front of her." I said smugly. It wasn't like we've never kissed before, actually, we were already a bit like lovers, just without the relationship part.

"Sounds fun," he replied, "when are we gonna do this?"

"As much as I hate to admit it, we should give it a few days..." I muttered miserably before leaning back onto the couch.

"I'm sure Ryou will be fine, Baku." Marik said comfortingly, calling me by the nickname he came up with.

"Yeah.." I sighed softly before nodding, he will be fine. "Alright, we should do this on Monday."

Marik nodded before getting to his feet again and going into the kitchen to make us the food he promised this morning.

"Marik," I called softly, when I received a 'hmm?' I continued "Would you mind if I stayed here until Monday?" I asked.

"Not at all! You're welcome anytime!" He called from the kitchen.

I suddenly felt much better as I got to my feet and went to help Marik with the food. All the while, I was planning the demise of Mazaki Anzu. _Oh_ she was going to pay for going this far. I could feel all of the malice that I held for her surfacing as I thought about it. I know now, that I will not rest until I have Ryou back safely and I've heard her screams of pain and terror.

"Baku, be careful." Marik said suddenly startling me out of my thoughts.

I turned to him with a small smirk to show that I was fine, but a throbbing pain in my finger proved me wrong. I turned my gaze downward to see what the cause of pain was, only to see that I cut it deeply with the knife I was using to chop garlic.

"Shit." I growled as I set the knife and brought my finger close to my lips, before I could place the bloody digit into my mouth, I felt Marik grasping my wrist.

"You need to pay more attention," he said calmly before taking the finger into his mouth, gently liking all of the blood off.

"You know, your blood fetish is going to get you in trouble one of these day," I said jokingly before shaking my head.

He bit my finger lightly before releasing it just long enough to say "I'm looking forward to it," with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes before turning my gaze away from him. In a way, I missed this. The physical contact. Sure I embraced Ryou, but never any more then that. Maybe after all of this, I'll take it a step further.

-Normal POV-

Monday arrived quickly for the two. They spent the weekend goofing off and coming up with more of the 'Take Down Anzu' plan, as Marik put it. This was where Bakura was annoyed with the blond for dropping out of school, but then again. It would have been a lot worse around here they were together.

"Where's Ryou?"

Bakura's head jerked to the side to glare at whoever spoke to him, when he saw that is was only Mouto, his gaze softened a little. "He never misses school." The small boy continued, the concerned look on his face caused the white haired teen to fill with malice once again.

"He's sick," Bakura lied easily, "I'm sure he'll be back soon. I'm going to his house after school to check up on him."

"Alright, tell him I said 'get well', okay?" he asked smiling,

"Sure thing." Bakura replied adverting his eyes once again as Yugi left. _Like I'm going to tell him the truth,_ he thought,_ 'Hey Mouto, Ryou got kidnaped on Friday day while he was waiting for me after school.' I'm sure he would _love_ to hear that._

The demonic boy tapped his foot on the ground impatiently, just waiting for Anzu to approach him. Then he would have to ask her to meet him after school, only to have Marik reach her first. They had it all planned out.

Brown eyes once again glanced over to her, it was about the tenth time just that class. No matter how much he disliked it he had to do this until she came up to him. _God, how stupid is this girl?!_ he cried in his mind.

Finally she noticed and smiled sweetly at him. He had to play along, no matter how much it made him want to retch, he forced himself to smile back.

Anzu practically squealed with delight before she quickly got to her feet and strode over to Bakura's desk.

Resisting the urge to destroy her right there, he spoke, forcing his voice to be soft "Hey...Anzu," he said, using her first name, as if to make a point, "How are you?" he asked.

Despite the smile she received, she was quite surprised at the question "I...I'm fine," she stuttered slightly "you?"

"I could be better," he replied allowing a sad expression to form on his face, "you see, I'm in a tight spot." Bakura shook his head lightly before forcing another smile. "Can you meet me behind the gym after school?" he asked, fully aware that this was the last class of the day.

"Su-sure.." She stuttered, obviously shocked by this 'invitation.'

Bakura nodded slightly before adverting his eyes from her, unable to even look at her anymore "See you then," he said.

Seeing that as a dismissal, she went back to her seat in stunned silence.

His gaze turned to Ryou's seat calmly, he never knew that one could be pleased and disgusted at the same time, but he was.

The plan has been set into motion.

---

Anzu stood waiting where Bakura had indicated, she was a bit confused as to why the boy didn't just walk here with her. Of course he _did_ say that he needed to talk to the teacher about something. Maybe he wanted to know his grade on that project they had to do.

"Oi! You there!"

The brunette jumped slightly before she turned, her azure gaze falling upon a blond boy with insanely spiky hair and lavender eyes. She tilted her head to the side curiously as she waited for him to continue.

"You're Anzu, right?" he asked finally as he stopped in front of her, a somewhat soft smile playing on his lips.

"Uh...Yeah, who are you? Do you even go here?" Anzu asked eyeing the black tank-top and tan cargo pants.

He stared at her for a moment before answering "I'm Marik, and no, not anymore. I dropped out around sophomore year. Why?" he asked curiously.

"I was just wondering, I've never seen you before."

"I'm not surprised, I don't get around much." Marik said waving his hand in a dismissive manner, "Not on my own anyway."

"What do you mean by that?" Anzu asked, once again eyeing the blond.

"Are you the one who got rid of the nuisance for me?" he asked, changing the subject completely and getting to the point at hand. He was already annoyed with this girl and her stupid questions, and Bakura had to deal with her all the time! How did he do it without killing her?

"Nuisance?"

"Ryou." He confirmed calmly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, but why would he be a bother to you?" she asked.

That was what he was waiting for the entire time. "Why? Because he was trying to steal my lover away." Marik stated quite bluntly.

"Lo-...Bakura? You're Bakura's lover?" She asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.

Marik smirked.

"Yes, has been for a few years now."

"I don't believe you," she continued in a slightly annoyed voice.

It was right at those words that Bakura decided to stop hiding, calmly he walked around the corner, brushing imaginary dust off of his jacket. "Sorry I'm late, Ms. Shimaia needed my help carrying-" he cut himself off when he spotted Marik standing there with Anzu. He gave the other boy a confused look before stopping next to him.

"Marik, why are you here?" Bakura asked, shifting nervously from foot to foot.

Anzu looked as if she could kill at this point.

"Why, I was just thanking Anzu here for getting rid of that Ryou you were so fond of," Marik said, almost purring as he spoke.

Bakura visibly froze at the mention of his angel's name. Anzu was buying the act.

"Bakura...he claims to be your lover, is it true?" she asked finally, her eyes swelling up with tears as she asked.

There was a long pause as Bakura acted as if he were trying to think of what to say, finally "No-"

"Yes he is, I'll prove it." Marik said cutting the white haired boy off, as they had planned the day before.

Right before Anzu's eyes, Marik calmly pulled Bakura towards him and gently pressed his lips against the other boy's. It was quite obvious they had done so before, and soon, Bakura was pressed up against the blond in an extremely suggestive manner with his arms wrapped around Marik's neck, the blond's arms looped loosely around his waist.

Slowly, the kiss ended, and Marik glanced over to Anzu smirking "Believe me now?" he asked.

Anzu just nodded dumbly as the object of her affections untangled himself from his 'lover'. She wasn't quite sure what to think. She had first thought that the only one who lie in her way was Ryou, but now there was Marik.

She watched as Marik leaned closer to Bakura and whispered in his ear.

"How was that, Baku?" Marik asked before adding a little kiss on his ear for show.

"Very convincing, now is where I excuse myself and you try and get the information from her," Bakura reminded as he widened his eyes, as if in shock.

Anzu couldn't hear a word they were saying.

"I should get going now, I have homework to do, unlike you," he shoved Marik playfully in the arm before smirking.

"Fine, go and do you beloved homework. I'll see you later." Marik replied wiggling his eyebrows with a smirk of his own.

Bakura let out a short laugh before waving his goodbyes "Talk to you later, Anzu." He called as he turned the corner he came around when this whole thing started. Though he didn't really leave, he couldn't care less about his homework right now.

"So, as I was saying," Marik started a moment after Bakura went into hiding again, "how did you do it?" he asked stepping closer to her.

"Do what?" she asked in a huffy manner.

"Get rid of Ryou, you see, Baku-chan has been spending quite a bit of time with little Ryou lately and not just because of that project they had to work on together," the blond began, "I was beginning to think that he was leaving me for the boy and that I would have to 'take care' of him."

Anzu's eyes widened at the insinuation "You would have killed him?!" she cried in surprise.

"You catch on quickly, but I didn't have to. You did it for me," he said smirking once again.

"He's not dead! He's just being held captive!" Anzu said loudly, obviously horrified that someone would think she killed another person.

"By you? Why would _you_ want him?" Marik asked tauntingly, it was all going according to plan.

"No! Not by me! Etaf has him!" She cried.

Marik was surprised by the name, he knew something was up, but he didn't realize that _he_ was the one who did all of this. He took a few steps closer to her, causing her to back up against the wall of the gym.

"Etaf you say? And where is he?" he asked, curiously tilting his head to the side.

"Just down the street from here, he lives in this huge house that looked abandoned on the outside. Why would you want to know that?" The brunette asked.

There was silence, then the area with filled with Marik's laugher, and it wasn't warming. Not warming at all.

"Did you get that, 'Baku-_chan_'?" The blond called smirking, not taking his eyes off of the girl.

"Yeah, I got it." Bakura said as he rounded the corner once again, he turned and glared at Marik "and if you ever call me 'Baku-chan' again, I will not hesitate to rip your vocal cords out of your throat." He said, and it didn't sound like a joke.

"Awww, I love you too," Marik said before turning to Anzu once again, she looked horrified.

Bakura was standing in front of her in an instant, his brown eyes colder then ice.

"You think, that just because Ryou goes missing that I would immediately go to you?" Bakura asked coldly.

"That was the plan..." She admitted.

"Foolish girl," Marik started from behind his friend "you should have known better then to do something so stupid as to get Bakura angry."

Azure eyes widened in fear as a cruel smile formed on both boy's lips.

In the blink of an eye, the paler of the two boys had Anzu pinned against the wall by her throat, "You selfish bitch! Didn't I say that you can never compete with Ryou?! Didn't I?" He cried, finally losing his temper.

Marik didn't move to stop him either.

"Y-yes, but I thought-" she was cut off.

"Well, you thought wrong didn't you." He spat disdainfully, his grip on her throat tightening.

"You should have realized," the blond started calmly with his arms crossed over his chest, a mocking smile on his lips "that Bakura isn't interested in the least in you, or any girl for that matter," he paused for effect before continuing "he's very much gay."

Anzu looked as if she had been stuck in the face by a two-by-four.

"How _dare_ you interfere with my love life." he hissed, not correcting his friend.

"I...I thought...Marik was your...lover..." she managed as she grasped Bakura's wrist with both of her hands, trying to pull free.

"That just shows how gullable you are," Marik said, "we aren't lovers, we never were. Neither of us could stand the other long enough to have a romantic relationship, so we're pretty much all physical. Well, that and best friends."

Bakura let out a cold laugh as he once again tightened his grip, "He had no idea about Ryou until Friday, after he was kidnaped." He offered before going silent once again.

"I'm quite curious about him to be honest. 'Who could possibly claim Bakura's heart?' I asked myself when he showed up in a panic. I'm intending to find out." Marik said his eyes narrowing.

Anzu could no longer speak and her breathing had been cut off. She struggled under Bakura's grip, but he was too strong for her.

Just before she could pass out, Bakura released her. Though as soon as one hand left her throat, the other struck her hard across the face causing her to fall to the ground, coughing and gasping to breath.

"I will deal with you later." Bakura said menacingly as he glared at her.

With that, Bakura left with Marik following behind him, laughing at the girl's misfortune.

--End of Chapter 4--

A/N: I hope you liked it. Please review!


	5. Darkness Brought to Light

**A/N:** Thank you so much to those who reviewed! I'm so sorry that this chapter took so long to get up. I have no excuses, I just didn't write it. I lost a bit of inspiration when I ran out of hand written pages, so this chapter pretty much took on a life of itself. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

**Warnings:** Language, Shounen Ai/Yaoi, Torture, Character Death, and some OOCness

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, or any of the characters except for the characters that you do not recognize.

**A Project of Fate**

_**Chapter 5:** Darkness Brought to Light_

-Ryou's POV-

Three days. I've been here for three days and Bakura has yet to come for me. I know he'll come, I just can't help the slight doubt that keeps creeping into my mind as each hour passes. I wish that this would all hurry up and be over.

It's not that I'm being treated terribly or anything. Actually, I'm being treated quite well for someone chained and confined to one room at all times. Every now and then I would hear Anzu arguing with Etaf, but usually nothing more then that outside this room. He comes in to give me meals and sometimes he even will stay and keep me company. I've found that Etaf isn't really that bad, even if he kidnaped me. Even now, thinking about it only causes me to be curious about what he's really trying to accomplish doing this.

I somehow get the feeling that he knows Bakura. The way he talks about him when he would come up in the conversation. It was like someone talking about an old friend or even family. Every time I asked about it, he would either excuse himself and leave, or change the subject. I found that I was becoming increasingly annoyed with his 'You'll find out soon' answers, so I just stopped asking all together.

As I stare up at the plain white ceiling I could feel the increasing sense of boredom seeping into my less then occupied mind. The normally silent ticking of the near by clock echoed in the sparce room, grating slightly on my nerves. Couldn't he give me a book or something? With a soft sigh I allowed my thoughts to wonder once again to Bakura.

The way that, no matter how angry or annoyed he got with me, he allowed me to explain myself before something bad happened between us. The way he not so subtly flirted with me whenever we were together regardless of where we were. It's amazing to think that it has only been a little over two weeks since we've become friends.

That's not what I want.

I'm must be selfish for even thinking about it.

I want more. More of Bakura.

"Ryou?" I jumped slightly, startled out of my thoughts. It's Etaf.

I sit up and allow my gaze to fall on the handsome Egyptian boy that I've grown used to seeing for the past few days.

"I brought something to eat," he said as he entered the room carrying a tray that had a plate full of food sitting atop of it. I could almost feel my mouth watering at the sight, I wasn't even aware I was hungry until I caught sight of the delicious looking meal.

"Thank you." I replied politely as he set the tray on the nightstand beside where I sat on the bed.

It was just a simple sandwich with some chips on the side, but after not eating for most of the day it was mouthwatering. As I began eating, I felt the bed give in slightly to his weight as he sat near the foot of the bed. This was something that happened often.

"He's coming today," Etaf began as if to start a conversation, I froze in mid bite, "Anzu did what I excepted her to, and was fooled into giving away where you are." The beautiful teen shook his head mockingly "The girl came crying to me telling me of how terrible Bakura and his friend were," he snorted disdainfully, now obviously not caring if I was listening or not. I found it sort of amusing to listen to his rants about Anzu. "Oh how I wish he would have just taken care of her there, even Marik doing it would have been fine. It would save me a hell of a lot of trouble."

At hearing that name, I paused in the middle of another bite, this time in thought.

I've heard Bakura mention that name before, but I honestly didn't pay too much attention to it. It was only natural to accept his friends without a second thought. Now that I actually think about it, he said that before I came around, there was only Marik. It was a curious thing.

"Are you sure?" I heard myself asking him, I wasn't even sure why I had asked, when I knew the answer.

"Yes." Etaf answered with a small smile, "You'll also find out that there is much more to this then meets the eye."

I tilted my head slightly as I attempted to figure out what he meant. Finally, he spoke again, this time in a lower voice, almost as if he didn't want anyone to over hear the words.

"There is something far darker then I at work here," he said, his strange crimson gaze trained on me. I felt that if I moved, something in me would shatter into a million pieces, destroyed beyond repair. It was an odd feeling. "My ultimate goal," he began again, startling me out of my musings, "is to protect the two of you."

I was so shocked by his words that I dropped the remainder of my sandwich onto the plate so that I wouldn't drop it onto the plush carpeting.

I couldn't stop myself from speaking.

"You sure have an interesting way of going about that." I stated crossing my arms over my chest.

"I'll explain it in more detail when Bakura arrives," Etaf said, seeming to brush away my comment.

I found that I was no longer hungry as I allowed his words to seep in. It shouldn't have bothered me as much as it did at that moment. It was as if he knew much more about the situation then he was willing to explain even to Bakura.

Abruptly, he stood and left the room, closing the door gently behind him. I couldn't help but wonder why he was acting so odd.

'Something much darker at work here', what did he mean by that? Shaking my head I scooted down on the bed so that I could lie down comfortably. I guess I'll find out when Bakura arrives...if he arrives.

-Bakura's POV-

"So...We're just going to barge in and get Ryou?" Marik asked staring up at the building that my angel resided in. Now that I heard him say it aloud, it sounded kinda...reckless. I sighed softly and shook my head.

"We have to come up with a plan" I replied easily as I crossed my arms over my chest. Marik had made a point of calming me down before we came here, knowing that if I was still angry I would end up doing more harm then good. Besides, I didn't want Ryou seeing me like that.

I turned to look at Marik curiously, silently willing him to tell me if he had a plan. "Etaf is involved," he began seriously, "so we can assume that something is very wrong. He doesn't bother with us unless we're in mortal danger."

Nodding in agreement, I sighed lightly, "At least we know that Ryou is safe. Etaf would never do anything to invoke my wrath completely, he just likes to piss me off."

Marik laughed before shaking his head lightly. "You'd think that he knew better by now." He stated before leaning against the wall.

Honestly, I can't understand why we don't just go in, we don't really need a plan and I just wanna know what the hell is going on. After a few minutes I grabbed Marik's wrist and began dragging him across the street.

"We know it's not going to be dangerous, just annoying as hell. Obviously he just wanted our attention," I said, "he could have just approached me instead of doing this the hard way." I muttered annoyed.

Marik laughed as he merely allowed me to drag him across the street and to the building, "You know that he just _loves_ to piss you off, and I bet that he thinks it's more fun this way."

"I wouldn't doubt it."

Without any hesitation, I kicked the door open and pulled the blond in after me ignoring him as he claimed that kicking the door wasn't needed.

"ETAF! WHERE IS RYOU?!" I screamed as soon as we got into what looked like the entrance hall of the old house. What followed was complete silence, that is until I heard a light laugh from somewhere upstairs.

"Always straight to the point, where's my 'Hello, how are you?'" He called from the top of the stairs, a wild smile on his lips. "I knew that you would be here today, Ryou was convinced that you weren't going to come," he said, I could tell that he was happy that he proved my angel wrong, though this angered me a bit.

"Where is he?" I demanded, struggling to remain calm, my hold on Marik's wrist tightening. He said nothing about it though, as he too was watching the black haired youth closely.

Suddenly, all I wanted to know was why the hell he did all of this and why he had to drag Ryou into something that he wasn't involved with.

"I guess you're wondering why I did this," Etaf began as he descended the stairs, my eyes followed him, waiting for him to continue, "at first, it was only because I wanted to annoy you as well as get you to come to me, but..." he trailed off as he turned his gaze away from us. This annoyed me more the seeing him did.

"But...?" I pressed with my teeth clenched.

"But I found something...disturbing," he paused for a moment, looking me in the eye. The sudden seriousness of the situation weighing down on my mind as I waited for him to continue once again, "about Ryou."

Immediately it felt as if the bottom dropped out of my stomach. I knew that Etaf wouldn't joke around about something like this. "...what do you mean?" I asked hesitantly, suddenly afraid to know. I felt Marik wrap his arms around my waist in a comforting gesture, I was honestly greatful for this action.

Etaf watched us for a moment, a small from on his lips, "There is something...dark trying to take over Ryou's soul. He doesn't seem to realize anything is wrong, but there is an evil being trying to influence his thoughts. If nothing is done, Ryou will be forever changed for the worse... He'll probably kill you, this evil thing sees you as a threat."

I stared at the dark haired male for a long while letting the words sink in before I dared speak, "How...how do we keep this from happening?" I asked.

Crimson eyes stared into my brown, his expression softening just slightly at my question, "That is why I have called you here," he began calmly, now standing in front of me, "you need to protect him. Let him know that you will always be there for him, don't allow him to doubt your actions or thoughts, because every time he doubts you, or thinks that you don't care...the thing inside him grows and something in Ryou will change."

"Will I be able to do anything to help?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin when Marik spoke, I had forgotten he was here with me.

"Befriend him, right now he needs all the care he can get. Loneliness will be the death of the Ryou you know, Bakura," Etaf warned before turning and heading back up the stairs.

At first I wasn't sure if I should follow, the thought of Ryou being anything other then innocent disturbed me more then I will ever let on. Finally I pulled away from Marik and led him up the stairs with me, not willing to do this alone.

My mind was swarming with everything that Etaf had said and everything he warned me about. It suddenly made sense that he kidnaped Ryou, he had to see what the disturbance was. It was obviously something that the black haired male didn't cause or couldn't control. This made me nervous. Suddenly, I wanted nothing more then to keep Ryou safe, the world be damned.

"Don't worry, Baku, I'll be here to help," Marik whispered to me as we reached the top of the stairs. I felt a small smile form on my lips at the words, the blond always knew what to say to make me feel better, at that moment I was glad that he was my best friend.

-Normal POV-

The two paused at the top of the stairs as Bakura collected his thoughts, Marik waiting patiently for his white haired friend to lead the way. Etaf had already entered the room at the end of the hall, where they assumed Ryou was being held. Bakura took another calming breath before he made his way down the hall, his grip on Marik's wrist tightening slightly. The blond was confused as to why his friend was even nervous about seeing Ryou again, even after what Etaf had told them. As far as they knew, Ryou was still Ryou, and he will stay that way of they had anything to say about it.

About half way down the hall, Marik decided to speak, "There is no reason for you to be nervous," he began in a soft voice, "he hasn't changed yet and I'm sure that he's anxious to see you."

Bakura glanced at him for a moment before nodding, the nervousness draining away from his expression as he sped his pace.

"Bakura's really here?!" he heard Ryou exclaim from the room, followed by the sound of chains jingling.

The white haired male felt his anger rise as he thought of Ryou being chained up, unable to move as he pleased. With a light growl, he paused in the doorway, his dark gaze falling upon his chained angel.

Ryou looked well enough, he didn't seem under-fed or hurt in any way, and his skin was the same lovely shade it was last time Bakura had seen him. All in all, Ryou seemed perfectly healthy. Bakura smiled lightly when those beautiful emerald orbs widened in delight as they focused on him.

"Bakura!" He cried happily as he jumped from the bed and nearly dove towards his beloved, but just as he reached the doorway, Ryou crashed to the ground, the chains having heald him back. The brown eyed youth was immediately kneeling beside the fallen male, before long, he had his arms around him, holding him close.

"Take off the chains." Bakura ordered coldly as he turned his gaze to the black haired teen still seated on the bed.

Etaf remained seated, a small smirk forming on his lips, "Are you really in the position to be giving me orders?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Bakura's eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"Don't you think you've done enough?" Marik asked, finally speaking up.

Ryou jumped slightly when the blond spoke, he didn't notice him there when Bakura had first entered the room.

"Oh, you know that I can't resist annoying Bakura," Etaf replied with a grin as he got to his feet, a key in hand.

"Yeah, one of these days you'll regret that hobby." Bakura nearly growled before turning back to Ryou in his arms. "We'll get outta here as soon as we can."

Ryou's expression turned to one of slight irritation at Bakura's comment, "No, we're not going anywhere until I know what's going on here."

Bakura stared at Ryou with a slightly shocked expression on his face. He hadn't expected the outburst much less the other refusing to leave once he was free. Then again, he couldn't blame him at all for his annoyance. The dark eyed teen would be pissed in he were being kept away from Ryou against his will with no explanation what so ever.

Etaf merely nodded as he approached the two white haired teens, "I figured that you wouldn't want to go anywhere until you knew why I brought you here in the first place," he said as he kneeled down and unlocked the shackles, removing them from Ryou's wrists and ankles, "the reason I brought you here and why Bakura came, is because you are both in some serious danger," he continued calmly, the chains falling to the floor as Etaf's strange crimson gaze focused on the smaller of the two, "it is important for you to ignore any sort of voices you might hear in your mind that is not your own."

Ryou stared at the Egyptian in confusion before he shook his head, "How would _you_ know?" he asked, his eyes narrowing just slightly.

The black haired teen sat beside them on the floor, "Because I'm the one who got you two together," he answered easily.

"Wait a second, _you_ are the one who told Ms. Shimaia to make us partners?" Ryou asked, the annoyance in his voice draining away as the conversation wore on.

"Well...no, I didn't say anything to your teacher."

"Then how are you the one that got us together?" The emerald eyed male asked, still confused.

"Because, he's the controller of destiny," Marik stated bluntly, obviously getting tired of all this beating around the bush, "now will you just _on_ with it?" he nearly growled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Controller of destiny?" Ryou repeated quietly to himself before his eyes widened in shock, "You're _fate_?!" He cried before turning to Bakura for conformation, only to see him nodding, the irritation obvious in his expression.

"The one and only," Etaf replied with a small grin.

"And _why_ did you kidnap me?"

His expression turning serious, the black haired teen allowed his gaze to fall onto each of them before focusing on Ryou, "There are things in this world that even _I_ can not control. As it is, there is a darkness... well more of an evil, trying to shadow you're soul, Ryou."

Ryou looked startled for a moment before he nodded in agreement, that would explain that voice in one of his dreams...at least... The white haired teen turned his gaze to Etaf, deciding to ask about it, "I had this dream about a week ago...it still unnerves me to think about it..." he trailed off, not sure if he wanted to explain it in front of Bakura.

Etaf nodded, obviously knowing what Ryou was talking about, "You have to ignore it," he said seriously, "if not, you could do something that you'll regret."

Emerald pools filled with understanding before he turned his gaze away from Etaf so that he could rest his head on Bakura's chest.

Silence followed as the threat filled the air, everyone in the room knew that it was true. That last thing Ryou wanted to do was hurt Bakura and he was going to do all he could to keep from doing so.

"About Anzu," Ryou began, his voice back to normal as he turned to Etaf, "you just used her so that Bakura will want to kill her, right?"

Crimson eyes danced with amusement at the question, "More so that he would have a _reason_ to kill her."

For some reason, the answer caused the white haired teen to laugh softly, cause Bakura to growl for just a moment, though it appeared more as if he were waiting for _permission_ to do so. Finally, Ryou turned to his beloved with a wide grin on his lips, "Just don't get caught." He ordered lightly.

Bakura and Marik's expression brightened at the approval before the brown eyed teen stood, lifting Ryou with him. Once they were all on their feet again, the smaller white haired youth turned to Etaf once again, "I suppose there are no hard feelings," he said, tilting his head to the side.

"Definitely not any on my part," he replied before smiling almost mockingly at the larger of the two, "anyway, if something seems wrong, I'll be here. Also," Etaf paused and crossed his arms over his chest again, "it would be the best of interest to remain together as much as possible."

Both Bakura and Ryou nodded in understanding before the taller of the two began leading them all from the room and down the hall, leaving the Egyptian behind.

Etaf sighed softly as he watched them, he knew that this was going to be just the beginning, no matter how much he wished that Ryou wasn't involved with this. He was such an innocent boy, it was almost painful for the dark haired teen to tell him what he did.

Well, there was no helping it. The next moment, the room was empty.

Marik's lavender gaze remained on the back of Ryou's head as they left the building, he knew that Bakura was in love with this boy, but he had no idea how Ryou felt about his friend. That bothered him somewhat. He decided that as soon as he was able to get the boy alone, he would ask.

But for now, they had a revenge to plan.

"How would you like to go about torturing Anzu?" the blond asked calmly, acting as if this were a normal conversation that went between the two of them, and Ryou didn't doubt that one bit.

"She already doesn't like you," Bakura stated grinning as he turned to look at Marik, "so you have to be involved."

"Of course," he replied mirroring his friend's grin, "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

At this point, Ryou was somewhat confused on what they were talking about, "...What did I miss?" he asked hesitantly as he glanced from one to the other.

"Well," Bakura began with a small smirk, "Marik here pretended to be my lover to get some information out of Anzu," he explained, "and in the process made her hate him."

Ryou nodded lightly, though he couldn't help feeling just a little bit jealous of the blond for being close enough to Bakura to be able to pull off such a thing. Somehow though, he knew that Marik wasn't a threat... if you could call anyone that.

"So...Can I help?"

Both Marik and Bakura turned to look at the smaller male in surprise before a wild grin formed on both their lips. "Of course you can," Bakura replied as he took his angel's hand gently into his own.

Ryou appeared startled for a moment before he grasped Bakura's hand in return, a soft flush coloring his pale cheeks. The jealousy immediately drained from his mind as he merely took in the warmth of his beloved's hand. He really couldn't feel threatened when Bakura was holding his hand and Marik was walking beside him.

"So, how are we gonna do this?" Ryou asked curiously.

"I'm thinking that we should torture her mentally before harming her," Bakura mused thoughtfully, "we could rub it in her face that I got you back _and_ have Marik."

Ryou nodded thoughtfully before grinning, "That sounds like it would be amusing."

Marik put an arm around Ryou's shoulder with a grin on his face, "Oh, it'll be fun all right," he stated.

The action surprised Ryou for a moment before he decided that if Marik was Bakura's friend, then he might as well become friends with him as well.

"We start tomorrow then?" He asked as the other two nodded in agreement.

Oh this was going to be fun.

-End Chapter Five-


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